Between Peaceful Dusk and Redemptive Dawn

Shadowscare gulped at the sight of his brother’s wickedness. Sombra glowed with hatred and rage: an anger that probably started the day that he had decided to leave him for the wide world of Equestria. Sombra looked at Luna who then closed the screen. The fear had seemed to power Sombra. Luna could not stand the possibility of feeding this monster the energy it needed to continue fighting. She looked up, and then she too was consumed by anger at the very disruption of peace. Not to mention her soldiers were there. Ponies she had known personally. Luna refused to leave them in the Empire to be submitted to the will of Sombra. She returned to her senses and spoke to the guard beside her. “The Crystal Empire has fallen. Spread this message to as many soldiers as possible. We must do our best to recapture what this monster has taken from us. We will storm the Crystal Empire as one army. And if all else fails, we will rescue as many ponies as possible. Now go!” Luna paused at this as all the guards left. She waited until all but Shadowscare had left. Shadowscare looked up at the resilient princess as she sat on her throne. She looked at him in his dark purple eyes. “Something is troubling you, my child. Pray tell, what is bothering you?”

“That unicorn was my brother. Before I came here and before I first met you in the tundra, he was the only family I had left. My father disappeared and my mother was taken by sickness. He and I were left to fend for ourselves. He was always envious of me. One reason was because I had received my cutie mark before he did, yet he was older than me. He had blamed others for the loss of our mother. One day his anger caused him to burn down the very village we had lived our entire lives in. His anger was only increased by me abandoning him.”

“Do you still love him?”

“He is my brother. No matter what he does, I will still consider him family and love him as such. I know he has done awful things in his time, but I cannot blame him for being the way he is. He was raised like he is now, by a tough parent. My father was big on the ‘survival of the fittest’ rule. He believed that you cannot be weak in order to acquire the things that truly make you happy. I would have been the same way had my father not disappeared when I was such a young foal. The answer to your question is yes; I still love him.”

“Then if you were in my position, what would you do to save the Crystal Empire from falling to your brother?”

Shadowscare did not answer this question immediately. He had caused his brother enough pain already. What would be able to stop him now? Somehow he had gained enough knowledge on spells to manipulate the crystals within the empire. Would Luna and Celestia contain the might to destroy the monster his brother had become? Shadowscare lacked the stomach to make a decision like this, but he needed to give an answer soon. Of course they could defeat him. There was no more time for argument. It was time to act. He refused to let the ponies that had helped him in his journey become the puppets of a truly evil unicorn. Shadowscare thought for a second if his brother could find it in his heart to forgive him twice. But a unicorn like Sombra was truly heartless. Sombra was no longer his brother. He was a destroyer, and must be punished like he should have been years ago for burning down the very cradle of life for both Shadowscare and Sombra. He closed his eyes and said, “Do whatever you must to save the Crystal Empire.” Luna nodded and flew away.

Six days passed. Army after army attempted to reclaim the Crystal Empire. Each one limped back to the gates in defeat. Sombra, who now referred to himself as “king,” had enslaved the citizens of the Crystal Empire. The bright sunny skies that used to hover above the Crystal Empire were now darkened by shadow. The land was bleak and black crystals were everywhere. King Sombra had various architectural projects being constructed while he used the fear of everypony to power the barrier that prevented the crystal ponies from escaping. The only achievement of the past seven days was that Luna and Celestia’s armies were able to save the crystal prince and princess from slavery. One strange aspect of the battle was that Sombra released all his prisoners of war at the end of each day. They were mostly unscathed after being captured, but they returned with a curse. All the unicorns were infected with the black crystal. The crystal that prevented spell casting, often caused dizziness, and would sometimes backfire if a spell was cast with quick ferocity. So far, there was no cure.

During this siege, Luna and Celestia were with their soldiers giving orders outside the Crystal Empire and attempting to reason with King Sombra. The coronation of Shadowscare was postponed until the Crystal Empire returned to its rightful prince and princess. Shadowscare had spent the past six days studying in the day and gambling in the Shady Trough at night. Each day it was the same routine. It was the sixth day, and it was happy hour. The Shady Trough was a popular bar for the day time guards of Luna. Inside they gambled, they drank, and they laughed, and they talked. Shadowscare arrived at the counter that sixth night to try and forget about what was going on in Equestria at the moment.

“I’ll have a pint of cider,” ordered Shadowscare as he slid his bit across the counter.

“Here again?” asked the bartender. “I wouldn’t have thought that you of all ponies would ever end up here like the rest of these dogs.”

“It’s tough times,” returned Shadowscare after taking a sip of the cider that was placed before him. “I’ll get back on my hooves as soon as this Crystal Empire situation is over.”

“Well best of luck to you,” said the bartender.

Shadowscare continued to drink. Then he heard a call from one of the poker tables. Shadowscare turned around and saw a pegasus waving at him. He got up from his place at the bar and sat next to this pegasus who had a large sum of bits at his side.

“Shall we?” asked the pegasus. He shuffled the cards. “The name’s Nightshade. You’re new to this joint aren’t you?”

“I’m not new to many of the ponies here, but I am new to this bar.”

“Well then, how about a nice little round of poker? Let’s start this game. No chips, just bits.”

“Fair enough,” sighed Shadowscare as he pulled out a pouch filled with bits. Nightshade’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the bits. Gold was the only thing that Nightshade had ever trusted in this world. It would never betray him, sell him out, or talk behind his back. He looked up at Shadowscare in his depressing scowl. This was no ordinary pony; this pony actually had some money to his name. “Will this suffice?”

“Greatly,” responded Nightshade as he passed Shadowscare some cards. “We don’t get many high paid scholars like you in here much. It’s good to look out for each other in a world like this one. I couldn’t help listening to you over at the counter. So this Crystal Empire thing has hit the two big sisters hard, eh?”

“You mean to tell me you don’t work for one of them?” asked Shadowscare who tried to focus on the cards and not the conversation.

“I am an ex-Wonderbolt, so yeah. It’s hard for me to find work with that curse still resting on my shoulder, so I make some extra bits here.”

Shadowscare watched the twinkle of gold in Nightshade’s eyes. Nightshade was obviously anxious to claim his prize. “Tell me,” started Shadowscare, “have you ever had a family member that has come back from almost nothing to haunt you in your work?”

“What kind of question is that?” asked Nightshade.

“Well basically that’s why my life is turning upside down.”

“Interesting. Maybe you are overreacting? No. I’m guessing this situation is pretty serious. One wouldn’t come here for six nights in a row and drink as many ciders as you have if it wasn’t serious. Hmm, tell me what you fear most out of this.”

“That my life’s work may be ruined by the acts of a jealous brother, that I may be scorned by everypony for being related to a monster, that I may lose the sole reason I came to Canterlot in a dark and ugly battle? Ugh. I’m not sure which is worse.”

Shadowscare glanced over at Nightshade as he lost his poker face. He grinned menacingly. “Hah, I win!” yelled Nightshade as he placed his cards down on the table. Time had passed quickly since the beginning of the conversation. Shadowscare felt generous though at giving away the sheer number of bits to this pegasus. Nightshade quickly grabbed the bits and began to walk away. He turned around. “Nice try, brother, but I’m not one to lose a game. You take care of yourself and have a drink on me.” Nightshade tossed a bit toward Shadowscare who proceeded to pick it up and buy another cider at the counter.

Shadowscare left the bar after reflecting for many hours over that last cider and returned to his quarters. It was nearly dawn of the seventh day. He had spent his entire week’s pay at the Shady Trough, yet he felt no better than before. He arrived at his quarters to find Sappina waiting for him at his door. “Spent the night out on the prowl did we?” asked Sappina jokingly. Shadowscare rolled his eyes. “Hey, I wanted to apologize for my behavior back at the library. I should be happy for your ‘crowning’ award. It seemed as if you weren’t even happy to become royalty. It’s not my place to decide fate. When you read the letter, my jealousy got the best of me. Please forgive . . . uh, are you okay?” Sappina looked at Shadowscare who collapsed from fatigue.

Shadowscare opened his eyes. Sappina was right above him, staring into his eyes and him into hers. “Apology accepted. And curse the creator of this chaos for making a mess of the Crystal Empire.” Sappina laughed with Shadowscare. She helped him into his room and left him to rest.

Miles away, outside the Crystal Empire sat a massive army. They camped on the very edge of the black mist that surrounded the empire. The veldt that used to surround the crystal empire where the snow ended had been turned to desert. The mist shifted violently with the wind. At the very gates of the empire stood the princess of the day and the princess of the night. “King Sombra this is your final warning!” yelled Celestia with all her might. “Release the crystal ponies from your enslavement now or we shall do it for you.”

It was a few seconds before King Sombra finally responded. He laughed, but a small amount of fear was emitted also. He was confident that he had the upper hand. “Don’t you dare enter those gates! If you do, I will set a curse upon the entire empire: a curse that will last more than a millennium.”

“He is bluffing. I say we use the elements as soon as possible. This siege has gone on far too long.” Celestia was tired of watching the crystal ponies suffer. She had saved the crystal empire’s prince and princess, but that was not enough to her. The longer those inside the empire suffered, the ponies of Equestria would suffer with it.

“Hang on, my sister. He seems very convincing. Look at what he has done. Don’t you think that a curse like that is easily achievable by one who has taken an entire empire with only a one-pony army?” Luna was just as eager as Celestia, but she still had the patience to deal with Sombra. Luna had focused primarily on saving the crystal royalty. The people were a second thought. She need the job to be done right in order to ensure that the proper royalty returned to the throne and returned happiness to the crystal ponies.

“Enough! This ends now!” In her anxiety to finish Sombra once and for all, Celestia sparked the elements.

Luna pleaded, “Sister, wait!” But it was too late. Luna joined in the spell being cast by the elements of harmony. Their eyes glowed with white light. From their horns a beacon was cast at Sombra. Lights flew everywhere. Sombra was turned to a dark shadow that engulfed his whole body. He was disrobed as the shadow he had now become was formless. The armor and clothes he had acquired fell to the ground. He looked angrily at the princesses who cast a second incantation that banished him to the ice from whence he came from. Sombra roared as he was cast into a parted sea of ice which then closed upon the shadow with the red horn. It looked as if all struggle was finally over. The Crystal Empire was saved.
Then the earth began to tremble. A black shadow surrounded the Crystal Empire. This shadow was not Sombra, but merely a creation of his. It folded inward like an ocean wave and engulfed the empire. The shadow thinned and the empire was no more. Luna glanced over at her sister with anger because of her rushed irrational decisions. Sombra had not bluffed. He had cast the curse upon the empire before Celestia and Luna had even attempted to stop him with Elements of Harmony. Luna, Celestia, and the entire army traversed the land looking for any sign of the empire, but they were unsuccessful in finding even the slightest trace of the empire. The sun rose on that seventh day to a world that began to crumble without the reflection of hope and love from an empire now lost to ages.